Lorna Gail Schofield at a glance
- Current role
- Senior Judge
- Jurisdiction
- New York · Federal
- Judicial service
- Active
Lorna Gail Schofield
Senior Judge · U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York
Official judge-specific and circuitwide procedural guidance has been located for this profile.
Service record and verification
Judicial service and assignments
- U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York · Judge · Senior · December 13, 2012–present · Assignment source ↗
Appointment and verification
- Appointment method
- Presidential appointment with Senate confirmation
- Appointing authority
- Barack Obama
- Source authority
- Federal Judicial Center Biographical Directory
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Biography
Professional career
- Judge, District Court, S.D. New York, 2012-present
- Lorna Gail Tiangco Schofield is a Senior Judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, having assumed senior status on January 1, 2025
- Assistant U.S. attorney, Southern District of New York, 1984-1988
Education
- New York University School of Law in — J.D. (1981)
- Indiana University in — B.A. (1977)
Additional information
- On April 25, 2012, President Barack Obama nominated Schofield to the SDNY seat vacated by Shira Scheindlin.
- Private practice, New York City, 1988-2012
- Private practice, New York City, 1981-1984
- Born 1956.
- Date of birth: 1956-01-01
- Current role: Senior Judge, Thurgood Marshall United States Courthouse, 40 Foley Square, New York, NY
- She also held leadership roles in the American Bar Association, including Chair of the Section on Litigation
Lorna Gail Schofield Procedures & Courtroom Rules
Exhibits
Judge Specific
Judge Schofield directs parties to request an upload link for electronic courtesy copies and for audio or video exhibits that are not filed on ECF.
If any exhibits are of a kind that is filed with the Clerk of Court but not filed on ECF, such as audio or video files, the parties shall use the email address above to request a link to transmit an electronic copy to the Court.Judge Schofield's Individual Rules and Procedures for Civil Cases ↗
Remote appearances
Courtwide
In federal district-court civil proceedings, testimony is ordinarily taken in open court; remote contemporaneous testimony requires good cause in compelling circumstances and appropriate safeguards.
For good cause in compelling circumstances and with appropriate safeguards, the court may permit testimony in open court by contemporaneous transmission from a different location.Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 43(a), Testimony in Open Court ↗
Recording and broadcasting
Courtwide
Federal district courts may not permit courtroom photography or broadcasting during criminal judicial proceedings unless a statute or another federal rule provides an exception.
Except as otherwise provided by a statute or these rules, the court must not permit the taking of photographs in the courtroom during judicial proceedings or the broadcasting of judicial proceedings from the courtroom.Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 53, Courtroom Photographing and Broadcasting Prohibited ↗
Published courtroom rules
Judge and named-part rules
Published judge / part rules (50 excerpts)
See document heading and cited passage; do not apply outside the issuing part or proceeding.
Official rules document ↗ · Collected 2026-10-27
Trial exhibits and witnesses
5. Joint Final Pretrial Order – Civil Cases Only ......................................................2
Source page 2Motion practice
In jury cases only, the parties shall file and serve motions addressing any evidentiary issues or other matters to be resolved in limine. Any party may respond within one week after the filing of an in limine motion. Memoranda of law in connection with a motion in limine are limited to five pages. No reply briefs shall be filed.
Source page 3Trial exhibits and witnesses
In all jury cases, the parties shall file joint proposed case specific requests to charge (in plain English), a joint verdict sheet and joint case specific proposed voir dire questions. The parties each shall file a one paragraph statement describing their own claims and/or defenses to be read during voir dire and the preliminary charge before opening statements. The parties should not submit generalized jury instructions or generalized voir dire questions.
Source page 3Communications with chambers
The parties shall provide the Court with a courtesy digital copy of both the proposed voir dire and requests to charge in Word format by email to Chambers.
Source page 3Filing and working copies
If a party believes it would be useful to the Court, the party may file and serve a pretrial memorandum of law. Any party may respond within one week after the filing of a pretrial memorandum of law. The pretrial memoranda and response each shall not exceed 25 pages.
Source page 4Trial exhibits and witnesses
The parties shall file on ECF a proposed joint final pretrial order, including
Source page 4Trial exhibits and witnesses
(f) A statement whether all parties have consented to trial by a magistrate judge, without identifying which parties do or do not consent;
Source page 4Trial exhibits and witnesses
(g) A list of trial witnesses each party genuinely intends to call in its case in chief, and a separate list “identifying those whom the party may call if the need arises” (Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(a)(3)), including a short description and estimate of the length of each witness’s testimony, and whether the witness will be called live or by prior testimony. In general, the Court expects testimony to be elicited live for any witness who appears live at trial, and that admissible prior testimony will be used only to supplement;
Source page 4Motion practice
(j) A list of all proposed exhibits for each party’s case in chief to facilitate the pre-admission of exhibits. The list shall (1) mark each exhibit with one star for no authenticity objection and two stars for no objections at all, (2) for exhibits with objections other than authenticity, state the nature of any objection or the Federal Rule of Evidence that is the basis for the objection and (3) state whether an outstanding motion in limine will resolve the objection. Any objections not made shall be deemed waived, and any exhibits not objected to shall be deemed admissible at trial;
Source page 5Conferences and appearances
In most cases, prior to the final pretrial conference, the Court will distribute to the parties a draft voir dire and a draft preliminary jury charge that the Court will deliver prior to opening statements. At the final pretrial conference, the parties shall be prepared to address any objections or proposed changes to these materials.
Source page 5Conferences and appearances
A charging conference will be scheduled before the close of the evidence at trial. Prior to that conference, the Court will distribute to the parties a draft final jury charge that the Court will deliver prior to summations and a draft verdict sheet. The parties shall be prepared to address any objections or proposed changes to those materials at that conference.
Source page 5Conferences and appearances
At least one week before the final pretrial conference, the parties shall provide the Court with a digital copy of exhibits and demonstrative aids that they intend to use in their case in chief at trial, and an index (exhibit list).
Source page 5Communications with chambers
The parties shall email Schofield_NYSDChambers@nysd.uscourts.gov requesting a link to upload these materials. In criminal and civil cases, the index shall be marked as specified in paragraph I.A.5.j above. For cases with more than 15 exhibits, the index shall be on an Excel spreadsheet in native format, with hyperlinks to the exhibits if possible.
Source page 5Conferences and appearances
Prior to the final pretrial conference, the parties shall confer in an effort to resolve any objections to the demonstrative aids. Any objections that are not resolved shall be identified in a letter filed at least two business days in advance of the final pretrial conference.
Source page 6Conferences and appearances
At the final pretrial conference, the parties shall be prepared to address each exhibit with a previously identified objection. If there are too many such exhibits to make a discussion of each one practical, the party opposing admission, one week prior to the final pretrial conference, shall file a letter grouping objections into no more than five categories with representative samples of each category, and explain the nature of the objection.
Source page 6Trial exhibits and witnesses
Concurrent with their summations, the parties shall provide the Court with a digital copy for the jury of the exhibits admitted into evidence and an updated index with hyperlinks, omitting all information except the exhibit number and description of the exhibit.
Source page 6Discovery
At least one week before trial, each of the parties must submit to the Court any disclosures pertaining to expert witnesses under Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 16 or Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(a)(2).
Source page 6Discovery
The parties shall submit to the Court designations and counter-designations of deposition testimony they seek to offer at trial two trial days before the designating party intends to offer the testimony at trial. The designations or counter-designations shall be made by highlighting in different colors for each party the relevant parts of the transcript. The opposing party shall object in the margin by noting the basis for objection (e.g., FRE 801, 802 or hearsay). Any objections not made are waived. Such deposition testimony shall be submitted as a flattened PDF and may be submitted on the condensed (four pages to a page) version of the transcript. In a bench trial, for all deposition excerpts that will be offered as substantive evidence, the offering party shall submit a brief synopsis of the excerpts, not to exceed one page for each deposition, including page citations to the deposition transcript.
Source page 6Adjournments
(a) Trial dates and times. Unless otherwise decided by the Court, the Court will hear five hours of testimony each day beginning at 10:00 A.M. with a one-hour lunch break and two fifteen-minute breaks. The trial generally will adjourn at approximately 4:45 P.M., but will go later if necessary. In all events, the jury will be seated promptly at 10:00 A.M.
Source page 7Trial exhibits and witnesses
When the jury is not seated -- before 10:00 A.M., during breaks and after the jury is excused for the day -- the parties may raise issues for rulings that may arise during the trial. In jury trials, in order to keep distractions during the trial to a minimum, counsel shall be present by 9:30 A.M. and available after 4:45 P.M. to discuss scheduling and any disputed matters that may arise.
Source page 7Conferences and appearances
(b) Sidebars. Sidebars during jury trials are not permitted under any circumstance, and during bench trials, generally will not be permitted. The Court will use conferences before and after the trial day and, if
Source page 7Trial exhibits and witnesses
Counsel shall anticipate evidentiary and legal issues and raise them well in advance of the relevant testimony, outside the presence of the jury.
Source page 8Trial exhibits and witnesses
(d) Witness availability. The parties are expected to present witnesses throughout the entire trial day. Unless good cause is shown, if a party does not have another witness available on a given day, that party will be deemed to have rested. Counsel shall notify the Court and other counsel in writing, at the earliest possible time, of any particular scheduling problems involving witnesses so that other arrangements can be made to fill the trial day.
Source page 8Trial exhibits and witnesses
(e) Exhibits. Court time may not be used for marking exhibits. Exhibits shall be pre-marked, and if possible, will be pre-admitted in advance of the court session.
Source page 8Trial exhibits and witnesses
No later than three business days before trial, and in criminal cases on the first day of trial, the parties shall email the Court the current witness list and exhibit list. The exhibit list shall be in Excel format and shall include a column to indicate when an exhibit is admitted. In this column, on the first day of trial, the exhibit list shall identify exhibits to be admitted at the opening of trial (based on absence of objection or in limine rulings). The exhibit list may, but need not, include documents to be used only for cross-examination or impeachment. The exhibit list should not include exhibits that have been excluded from evidence or withdrawn. Each trial day, by 8:30 A.M., the parties shall email the Court an updated exhibit list and updated witness list, indicating which, if any, exhibits are new.
Source page 8Trial exhibits and witnesses
At the end of each trial day, counsel shall advise the Court of any exhibits to be offered into evidence the following day and inform the Court of any objections that the parties have not been able to resolve. The Court will then admit exhibits as to which there are no objections, and to the extent possible will rule on the admissibility of any exhibits as to which there are objections.
Source page 8Trial exhibits and witnesses
(f) 3500 Material. In criminal cases, at the beginning of trial, the Government shall provide the Court with two hard copies or one digital
Source page 8Trial exhibits and witnesses
Preliminary instructions will facilitate better decision-making by jurors as well as their greater understanding of their duty in the decision-making process. Jurors’ ability to recall relevant evidence and apply the law to the facts will improve if they understand in advance the context in which they will be required to evaluate or analyze the evidence presented during the trial.
Source page 9Trial exhibits and witnesses
1See, e.g., United States v. Stein, 429 F. Supp. 2d 648, 649 (S.D.N.Y. 2006) (“It is only common sense to think that it would be helpful to the jurors to know at the outset of a long trial what they are going to be asked to decide at the end.”); see also Fed. R. Civ. P. 51(b)(3) (“The court may instruct the jury at any time before the jury is discharged.”).
Source page 9Trial exhibits and witnesses
When appropriate, the Court will instruct the jury during the preliminary instructions and prior to the opening statements that they may submit clarifying questions in writing at the end of a witness’s testimony, that the rules of evidence govern the questioning and that they should draw no conclusions or inferences if a question is not asked or is modified.
Source page 10Trial exhibits and witnesses
(b) Juror Note Taking. Jurors will be permitted but not required to take notes during the trial. Jurors will be instructed that the notes are to aid their memory of the evidence and are not to substitute for their recollection of the evidence in the case.3 Counsel shall confer and arrange to provide each juror with a notebook or paper and pens at the beginning of trial. The notes will be collected and destroyed at the conclusion of the trial.
Source page 10Trial exhibits and witnesses
(a) Exhibits. The Court ordinarily will provide all exhibits admitted into evidence to the jurors for use in the jury room for use during deliberations. Immediately before the jury deliberates, the parties shall provide the court with digital copies of the admitted exhibits as set forth in Section I.B.2 above.
Source page 10Trial exhibits and witnesses
3 Sample jury instruction: “If you took notes during the course of the trial, you shall not show your notes to or discuss your notes with any other juror during your deliberations. Any notes you have taken are to be used solely to assist you. The fact that a particular juror has taken notes entitles that juror’s views to no greater weight than those of any other juror. Finally, your notes are not to substitute for your recollection of the evidence in the case. If you have any doubt as to any testimony, you may request that the testimony be read back to you as I mentioned earlier.”
Source page 10Courtroom conduct and technology
2. Counsel shall consult the most recent standing order on the Court’s website for the current policy concerning electronic devices.
Source page 11Conferences and appearances
3. Any request for a witness to testify remotely, i.e. live, but by videoconference, shall be made as early as possible and at least three business days in advance of the witness being called.
Source page 11Trial exhibits and witnesses
4. All witnesses shall wear civilian clothes -- no uniforms or badges.
Source page 11Conferences and appearances
6. Counsel and parties are to be on time for each court session. If counsel have matters in other courtrooms when a trial is scheduled, they shall arrange in advance to have a colleague handle the other appearance.
Source page 11Trial exhibits and witnesses
7. Only one attorney for each party shall examine, or cross-examine, each witness. The attorney stating objections, if any, during direct examination, shall be the attorney recognized for cross-examination.
Source page 11Courtroom conduct and technology
8. Counsel shall stand at or near the table or lectern when addressing the Court, including when making objections and for opening and closing statements. Counsel unable to stand on account of physical disabilities will be excused from this requirement. Counsel shall not stand when opposing counsel is addressing the Court.
Source page 11Trial exhibits and witnesses
10. In making an objection, counsel shall be brief and direct. (For example, “Objection, hearsay.”) In jury trials, counsel shall not argue the objection in the presence of the jury or argue with the ruling of the Court in the presence of the jury.
Source page 11Trial exhibits and witnesses
11. Offers of, or requests for, a stipulation shall be made in private (not within the hearing of the jury).
Source page 11Motion practice
12. During jury trials, counsel shall not make any motion (e.g., for a mistrial) in the presence of the jury. Such matters may be raised during a recess.
Source page 12Courtroom conduct and technology
13. Counsel shall address all remarks to the Court, not to opposing counsel.
Source page 12Trial exhibits and witnesses
14. Counsel shall refer to all persons, including witnesses, other counsel, and parties by their surnames and not by their first or given names.
Source page 12Trial exhibits and witnesses
15. Counsel shall refrain from approaching the bench or any witness. Any document counsel wishes to have the Court examine ordinarily shall be provided to the Court electronically.
Source page 12Trial exhibits and witnesses
16. Persons at counsel tables shall not make gestures, facial expressions, audible comments or the like as manifestations of approval or disapproval at any time during trial.
Source page 12Trial exhibits and witnesses
17. Counsel intending to question a witness about a group of documents shall have all documents prepared at the beginning of the examination.
Source page 12Trial exhibits and witnesses
18. Fact witnesses shall not be in the courtroom until after they have testified, except that one corporate representative per side may be present in the courtroom or remotely for the duration of the trial.
Source page 12Trial exhibits and witnesses
19. Counsel may not confer with a witness who is being cross-examined, including during breaks and overnight.
Source page 12Trial exhibits and witnesses
20. Counsel shall not move to “qualify” a witness as an expert.
Source page 12Shared court rules
SDNY and EDNY — Joint Local Civil and Criminal Rules
U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York
Federal district-court proceedings only. Civil and criminal sections have distinct scope and district-specific exceptions. Not Bankruptcy Court rules.
Official source ↗ · Collected 2026-10-27Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, December 1, 2025
U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York
Civil actions in United States District Courts; Rule 81 exceptions apply. Section-specific exceptions, waivers, later amendments and case orders remain applicable. This is a source excerpt, not an exhaustive statement of the rule.
Official source ↗ · Collected 2026-10-27Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure, December 1, 2025
U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York
Criminal proceedings in United States District Courts; this conservative mapping does not distribute appellate-specific provisions to appellate judges. Section-specific exceptions, waivers, later amendments and case orders remain applicable. This is a source excerpt, not an exhaustive statement of the rule.
Official source ↗ · Collected 2026-10-27Sources
Identity source checked July 25, 2026.
Biography sources checked August 2, 2026.
Federal Judicial Center biography
Identity source · HTML · Federal Judicial Center Biographical Directory · effective December 13, 2012 · Source checked July 25, 2026
View Federal Judicial Center biography ↗CourtListener judicial biographical directory
Identity source · HTML · CourtListener / Free Law Project · Source checked August 2, 2026
View CourtListener judicial biographical directory ↗Judge Schofield's Individual Rules and Procedures for Civil Cases
Judge Specific source · PDF · U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York · effective April 25, 2023 · Source checked July 26, 2026
View Judge Schofield's Individual Rules and Procedures for Civil Cases ↗Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 43(a), Testimony in Open Court
Courtwide source · HTML · Supreme Court of the United States and Judicial Conference of the United States · Source checked July 26, 2026
View Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 43(a), Testimony in Open Court ↗Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 53, Courtroom Photographing and Broadcasting Prohibited
Courtwide source · HTML · Supreme Court of the United States and Judicial Conference of the United States · Source checked July 26, 2026
View Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 53, Courtroom Photographing and Broadcasting Prohibited ↗